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The Shining
The Shining was a natural event that occurred in the Ashen Breach on the 30th of the Neck of the Silver Solstice, 905 Metier Era. The central volcano that the Dragon-God Tephra calls home, Cataclysm, suddenly erupted with molten diamond, which rained upon the city and surrounding landscape. In all of recorded history this sort of substance being blasted out from the volcano was completely unheard of. The combination of the intrigue and allure of diamonds attracted scholars and traders alike, and soon the city found itself far from what it had been before. __TOC__ Prelude Before the Shining, the Ashen Breach was a bit of a ghost town. After the Great Truce rendered a highly active army worthless, many of the ex-soldiers moved out. The more peaceful folk moved south and southwest, towards the cities and towns that spent their days along the river's edge. Meanwhile, the aggressive people moved towards the Battlefield, forming bandit gangs that learned the dead land and used the knowledge to easily trap and ambush traders that were foolish enough to try and take shortcuts. However, before the Truce the Breach was a place with high energy, a paradise for orcs teeming with energy and ready to test their mettle against the rest of the continents' armies. Mining operations hunting down black iron were frequent, and many a smithy used Tephra's bright magma to forge weapons for her greatest warriors. While many people enjoyed a more peaceful, cultured life out in the jungle and beyond it, only the toughest of folk made their way to the capitol to fight in the name of their goddess. The end of the endless fighting left the city a shell of its former self. People still came through to trade, mostly for that precious black iron. And a new guild beneath Tephra, the League of the Autumn Wind, made it's base here with those who still wished to serve their deity- but instead of looking for bloodshed, they sent their warriors out to help local communities whenever monsters or other natural forces inhibited their ability to function properly. On the side they developed complex "trick" weaponry, a niche market of weapons that attracted the attention of clever fighters from across the continent and kept the guild running. City even started coming back to life a bit, sparks of life in small communities that looked to the Breach for a new life, inspired by what the League had turned the place into. Of course, when the Shining happened, everything changed. The Shining As the clock struck midnight on the 30th of the Neck of the Silver Solstice in the year 905, the entire volcano that the Ashen Breach calls home, the Cataclysm, began to rumble. Eruptions are a common occurrence- in fact, the entire city was built around the typical flow of the ever-streaming lava- but these tremors were far greater than any that were usually to be expected. Fearing that the eruption may overflow into civilian space, the League of the Autumn Wind worked swiftly to evacuate all those they could from the city before things could explode. The earthquake lasted for several hours, allowing the guild to wake and retrieve most of the city, whom fled to the other side of the great black iron gate on the border of the city itself. And as the sun rose over the east behind Cataclysm, the radiant semi-transparent molten diamond erupted from the summit, as the goddess Tephra roared (whether that be in triumph or surprise no one is certain). It rained upon the city and the surrounding mountainous territory, hardening and embedding itself in the earth. Those who witnessed it couldn't help but cheer, the realization of what had happened overtaking them with joy. When the first rain of glittering opulence ended the peoples of the Breach flooded back into the city, eager to harvest as much of the valuable gem as they could. At first, the collection of the diamonds was frantic and even violent- fights started breaking out, and families and friends began turning on each other. Before too much bloodshed occurred, the second rain of diamonds came... and then, the third... and the fourth. Soon enough the locals realized there was more than enough wealth for all of them, and so they instead focused on getting organized. These diamond rains continued to happen fairly frequently for several months following the first day, eventually stopping about a week or two before the Betrayal. Aftermath After the initial excitement of the the Shining had passed for the locals, the knowledge of what had happened spread throughout the continent and beyond. Within a month people from across Halintar began flocking to the space, and within two there were a great number of foreigners on their way as well. It's unknown who began the trend, but it's believed that as soon as the foreigners began moving in on the space some started opening up casinos, hoping to cash in on the visitor's intense demands for diamonds while also limiting how quickly the gems were being taken from the place. Out of these casinos came the Dirty Dozen, a set of 12 casinos that cashed in more than any other (and were also rumored to have used dirty tricks against any other businesses that started thinking too highly of themselves, allowing the top 12 to stay dominant). On the 26th of the Crown of the Equinox of the Sun, less than three months after the Shining, the Betrayal occurred. Tephra went on a rampage for reasons largely unknown, her massive body decimating the Ashen Breach and leaving it an anarchistic ruin, the casinos either destroyed or turned into gangs of opportunistic brigands. Out of the ashes came the Fiscal Inquisition of the Ruling Estate (F.I.R.E.), led by P'targ, who has attempted to reign in control of the remnants of the city and beyond. They have since rallied up a decent sized army and seem to have formed a strong alliance with the Fringe. Technology Though an upcoming technological revolution was bubbling under the Mantle's surface for some time, the Shining brought forth a sudden blossoming in the Mantle's technology. Genius minds, coming to take advantage of the magical properties of diamonds, developed machines big and small with this sudden bounty of the rare resource. Intelligent engineers from Kaiken also came and brought a fairly primitive slot machine-like device, which could perform a simple roulette routine and dispense the appropriate amount of diamonds based on the result. They were notably easy to manipulate, though. Notes * This event occurred before the main campaign's story began, and was the pushing force for them to head southwards from their starting point at the Tipsy Tengu. Category:Events Category:HRotG Category:The Southern Mantle